The subject of this article is the fragmentary silver plate of a gilded silver sheet braid ornament decorated with palmette motifs, which was deposited in the storage of the Gorgippia Archaeological Museum (Krasnodar Krai, Russia) in 2015, together with several other finds. The finds had been discovered at a site named Andreyevskaya Shhel, located a few kilometres south-east of the town, at the north-western hill area of the Caucasus. Among the artefacts deposited in the storage in 2015, there were other finds related to the 9–10th centuries (e.g. silver plate of a sabretache, gilded bronze belt mounts, bronze strap end, sabre, bow case or sabretache mount, fingering, etc). The braid ornament, with many analogies in the Carpathian Basin, could have reached the North Caucasian region by means of long-distance trade. This hypothesis is sustained by the considerable dirham-finds in the Carpathian Basin, which indicate the integration of this region – and of early Hungarian commerce as a whole – into the Eastern, Muslim trade network.

The objective of this article is to present the funerary eye and mouth plates use as a funeral custom from the 10th century in the Carpathian Basin. Presented artefacts, which were interpreted as funerary eye and mouth plates, were sewn onto the shroud used to cover the skull or were placed on the eye cavity and on the mouth of the deceased person. The collected artefacts were divided into four parts, based on the formal aspect. Their characteristics were examined. These artefacts show strong connections with specimens known from eastern Europe, especially with the ones known from the Ural. The ancient Hungarians brought this funeral custom to the Carpathian Basin in the course of their conquest. Ethnic studies are needed to understand the discussed custom, and the subject requires further research.